Melbourne skipper Cameron Smith admits losing first-choice fullback Scott Drinkwater to injury ahead of their NRL season-opener next week has rocked the club.
Drinkwater was set to take over from retired superstar Billy Slater but will be sidelined for at least three months following surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle after suffering the injury in their trial last Saturday.
Smith said that the 21-year-old had trained all through the pre-season in the position with the timing of the injury a blow with their first match against Brisbane next Thursday night.
"It's a huge blow given Billy Slater's retirement last year - we were looking for a guy to take that jersey and Scott Drinkwater was the man that (coach) Craig (Bellamy) was looking at to fill it," the captain said on Tuesday.
"He's trained with us the entire pre-season in that position and to pick up such a serious injury 10 days out from round one is just awful.
"He's been training for 15 weeks and it looks like he's going to be out for 16 weeks so it's just terrible news for him."
Smith said utility Jahrome Hughes, who missed the trial against North Queensland with a slight calf strain, was the next player up and backed him to do the job.
"He's quite a valuable player there to have - he played there for us at times last year and played quite well and he will want to take that opportunity with both hands," Smith said.
